Newsgroups

What are newsgroups?

Newsgroups are an early feature of NCF (and the internet). They operate like a 'virtual bulletin board', where people can post and reply to messages. Typically a newsgroup is dedicated to a particular topic. There are hundreds of newsgroups at NCF and over 15,000 newsgroups on the internet.

Newsgroups were very popular in the early days of the internet, but spam (unwanted junk posting from advertisers) and the development of easier-to-use web-based alternatives have diminished their stature. Nevertheless, they still have a following, and at NCF, they are a place for open, public discussion.

Click [newsgroups.html here] for examples of NCF newsgroups.

How do I read newsgroups?

To view or post to a newsgroup, you need a software called a 'newsreader'. This is built into mailreaders such as Microsoft Outlook Express. After <A HREF="newsSetup.html">configuring your mail or newsreader</A>, you can open a newsgroup simply by clicking on a link to it or by selecting it from within your reader. Getting set up to use newsgroups is like using an email program -- some work to set up, but easy to use thereafter.

NCF's news server is news.ncf.carleton.ca and requires your NCF account ID and password. If you are connected directly through our modem pool, you can read all newsgroups NCF has available. If you are connected through another provider, you can read all NCF (ncf.*) newsgroups via our news server. (You could read any non-NCF newsgroups through your other provider's news server.)